Adalberto Santos was the Pirates’ 22nd round pick out of Oregon State in last year’s draft. He signed quickly and was sent to State College to begin his professional career. There, he hit the ball extremely well, which should be expected from a 22-year old college draftee. In 63 games for the Spikes, Santos hit .319/.406/.479 with 3 homers and 7 triples to go along with 17 stolen bases in 24 attempts.

The Pirates were pretty aggressive with Santos this year as they sent him to High-A Bradenton to start the year. Santos has been a pleasant surprise thus far and is hitting .313/.395/.468 with 4 homers, 6 triples, and 20 stolen bases. It’s been a big year for Santos as he has really propelled himself into “prospect” status as he is putting up very solid numbers as a 2B/OF and is now at more of an age appropriate level. However, being 23, he really can not afford to suffer any setbacks or his prospect status will really drop. But so far, so good for Santos. Hopefully he will finish off the season strong and make a successful jump to AA-Altoona next year.

Unfortunately for me, and for all of you, Santos went 0 for 4 in the game I attended. However, you can still get a chance to see each of his at-bats here: